Foster Dad Arrested After Handcuffing An 11-Year-Old Boy and Tying a Dead Chicken Around His Neck

Now that's fowl...(sorry, couldn't resist).

58-year-old Dorian Harper is facing six to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to felony child abuse, false imprisonment, and maiming an 11-year-old boy. The unnamed boy was under the care of Wanda Larson, Harper's girlfriend, who was his guardian. The couple lives together on a farm in North Carolina, with four other children that were adopted by Larson.

Authorities arrested Harper and Larson when they discovered the young boy handcuffed by his ankle to the home's front porch, with a dead chicken tied around his neck. The police said they think the boy was being punished for killing one of the chickens that lived on the family's 5-acre farm. According to the indictment against the couple, this wasn't the first act of abuse against their foster son, who Larson was in the process of adopting. Allegedly, Harper cut the boy's face with a knife, used an electric wire to burn his face, and frequently handcuffed him—one instance resulting in the boy breaking his wrist while trying to escape.

WCNC

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Harper and Larson also have a 20-year-old adopted son who no longer lives in the home, but says he had a loving and caring upbringing with the couple when they adopted him at 14. Although he didn't want to be named, he said the 11-year-old boy "has severe psychological issues, including a history of being cruel to animals," according to the Daily Mail.

"More than likely, the chicken around the neck was to shame the child. There has to be something going on, between that child and that chicken," the 20-year-old told KHOU. "He either, one, didn't feed it and it died, or two, either he was out there harassing the chicken. He may have killed the chicken."

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The farm has an estimated 75 fowl (chicken, ducks, guineas, and peacock), eight dogs, three horses, three donkeys, two llamas, and one hog.

Allegedly Larson wasn't home when authorities found the 11-year-old handcuffed, and her 20-year-old adopted son says she would not have agreed to the punishment. The deputies plan to interview the four other children to learn more about their living environment, but authorities on the scene said the smell of the home "took your breath away." "It was filthy, feces on the floor, holes in the wall," said Union County Sheriff Eddie Cathey.

During trial on Wednesday when Harper pleaded guilty, he said he's felt remorseful everyday. "I didn't want this to happen," he told the judge.